As Turkey continues to cut off the water supply from the Euphrates River, 34 more villages are now trying to survive without fresh water supplies in North and East Syria.
Among the Zor Mixar, Ewas and Şêxler projects that supply the drinking water of 37 villages in Kobani, only the Ewas project can operate now which means that, amongst 37 villages, only 3 villages – Derkreman, Boraz and Deşta Qumlixê – have access to fresh water.
Some of the villages in the region have wells with fresh water so they can manage to survive for a while but many do not. The ones without wells are suffering significantly as Azad Farûq, from the village of Derbazin, clarifies: “There may be some villages with fresh water, but not here. So, we are suffering too much. Moreover, summer is coming and it is very hot”, he said.
As the water flow cuts of the Euphrates have been criticised locally, nationally and internationally, some of the villagers believe that Turkey is deliberately cutting off their water supply.
“They want us to leave our villages and our lands so that they can come and occupy them. We do not want to leave our villages. If not only the Turkish state but any other state comes here, we still will not go anywhere. Let them cut off the water, we are not afraid of death”, said Mihemed Şêx Elî Silêman from the village of Cub El Ferec.
